Eric Garner NYPD chokehold case ruled a homicide

The death of a New York City man who was placed in a chokehold by police has been ruled a homicide by the city’s medical examiner.

According to
theAssociated Press, the medical examiner’s office
confirmed on Friday that a chokehold administered by police was
the cause of 43-year-old Eric Garner’s death on July 17, though
asthma and heart disease were contributing factors.

Specifically, Garner died due to “the compression of his chest
and prone positioning during physical restraint by police,”
spokeswoman Julie Bolcer said.

The announcement comes as the New York Police Department
continues to investigate the incident, while the Justice
Department is also monitoring the situation.

The controversial incident began when police walked up to Garner
and said they saw him selling loose cigarettes to other people,
something he’d been arrested for numerous times in the past.
Garner denied doing so, but was placed in a chokehold by an
officer and taken to the ground with the help of at least four
others.

As RT noted previously, Garner screamed multiple times
that he could not breathe, but eventually went into cardiac
arrest and lost consciousness. He was declared dead at a local
hospital.

In response to the medical examiner’s findings, NYC Mayor Bill de
Blasio released a statement to CBS New York addressing Garner’s
family and the city in general.

“On behalf of all New Yorkers, I extend my deepest sympathies to
the family of Eric Garner, on this day we have received the
Medical Examiner’s findings concerning the cause of his death,“
he said. My administration will continue to work with all
involved authorities, including the Richmond County District
Attorney, to ensure a fair and justified outcome.”

Speaking to the New York Daily News, Garner’s wife, Esaw,
expressed relief with the medical examiner’s
conclusions. She had previously criticized police for using
excessive and unnecessary force.

“Thank God the truth is finally out,” she said. “Thank God for
that.”

For its part, the NYPD told CBS it “will continue to cooperate
with the Richmond County District Attorney’s office, which is the
lead investigative entity in this case.”

Already, Police Chief William Bratton has stated that significant
reforms will be made to the NYPD’s training methods. Although
chokeholds have been banned since 1993, officers in New York have
been accused of using it more than 1,000 times in the
last five years.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association,
Patrick Lynch, said that more needs to be done before it’s
understood exactly what role Garner’s medical condition played in
his death. He expressed condolences to the family, but said that
if Garner “had not resisted the lawful order of the police
officers placing him under arrest, this tragedy would not have
occurred.”

The NYPD has come under increased scrutiny since Garner’s death,
with another video that recently surfaced showing
a man being put in a chokehold at a Harlem subway station.
Regarding the sense of mistrust between residents and police, de
Blasio said:

“We all have a responsibility to work together to heal the wounds
from decades of mistrust and create a culture where the police
department and the communities they protect respect each
other—and that’s a responsibility that (NYPD) Commissioner (Bill)
Bratton and I take very seriously. I’ve said that we would make
change, and we will. As Mayor, I remain absolutely committed to
ensuring that the proper reforms are enacted to ensure that this
won’t happen again.”